A Nutshell Review: The Island

Rating: 9/10 (18 July 2005)

This review is brought to you courtesy of a movieXclusive.com preview session, without which I won't be able to write this so soon.
The Island is the latest summer blockbuster offering from director Michael Bay, who brought to you other loud actioners like Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Con Air and Pearl Harbour. But what's different in The Island is his departure from long time collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer, and an attempt to explore a bit on human morality and ethics.
While I won't say that this exploration is thorough, it does invoke some thought when you're watching the film. As you would've already known, this movie is about clones. What if science and technology allows you to live a little longer, replacing body parts which are failing you, a kidney, a lung, from none other than something which has the exact biological make-up as you. This insurance policy, the product, will definitely be clinically compatible, and at your beck and call anytime. Will you proceed with buying into this product, even though it'll mean the birth and subsequent death of some other "you"? Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) live in a sterile environment, the Facility, where everything from your outfit to the food you consume are meticulously provided for. Survivors from a contaminated "outside world" are brought into the Facility, to live and work in until such time they win the Lottery and get themselves brought to the last paradise on Earth - The Island. Or so they thought. It's fun looking into the Facility, with its minimalistic Zen like decor, and the technology used to monitor and control its inhabitants look straight out out Spielberg's Minority Report.
But when Lincoln learns the truth of the setup, he brings along his best pal Jordan in an escape from bounty hunters and the law (ala The Fugitive), while at the same time trying to look up their owners in an urban futuristic looking landscape, to explain this truth. And here's where director Bay is at his element, with loud action, explosions, and a tad of explicit violence.
At times, the action pieces brought some sense of deja-vu, from Matrix (the building-windows-helicopter-smashing scene), to Star Wars (the jet-bikes), to an amalgam of elements from his own Bad Boys 2 chase scene (where they dump bodies at their pursuers) fusing into mass mayhem similar to Matrix Reloaded's freeway chase. Signature quick-cuts and camera-panning-around-actors-upper-torso-in-slow-mo remind you that this is action done Bay-style. Of course at times, one must suspend your disbelief when loopholes and improbable luck inadvertently play a part in non-stop action.
McGregor seemed to have a lot of fun in his role as Lincoln Six Echo (no worries, the naming convention does get explained). You might have thought that his exhilaration at motorcycles was real (yes, you might also know that he had travelled round the world on his BMW bike), and I felt his using of his native Irish accent and American accent to distinguish between his characters was a nice touch.
Scarlett Johansson is a beauty to behold. Her Jordan Two Delta has tough as nails spunk, as well as a touch of femininity and vulnerability in her character. The development of her love for Lincoln looked right out of Blue Lagoon, given that the clones have an intelligence equivalent of a 15 year old (or so the makers thought).
The supporting characters like Steve Buscemi (another veteran of Bay's movies, given some of the best hilarious lines in the film - listen out for his cow analogy), Djimon Hounsou (who presented a meaner, leaner, younger version of Samuel L Jackson's mo-fo attitude), and main baddie Sean Bean all give commendable performances in an action movie. Don't expect too much character development, but they played their stereotypical role to a T.
Product placement's a fun thing to spot, from Puma, to Microsoft's XBox (I want one of those!), MSN, Calvin Klein (oh when will Johansson star in a real one?) and of course, Nokia (I was wondering when this would appear). Somehow they didn't feel jarring from the scene they're featured in, as some helped facilitate the plot somewhat.
While techonology and science may offer us a chance at the elixir of longer life, we must be careful with it and not attempt to play God, in deciding who lives, and who does not. While one may have noble intent, delivery and execution (pardon the pun) of that intent matters.
Welcome to the Island. Good things do happen.